Three in a row

Sturgis' size and 3-pointing shooting by Ariana George in the first half lifted the host Trojans to a 50-25 win over Centreville in girls basketball Tuesday.

"The one thing that has been evident and obvious in the last few games is that when we're balanced, we're good," Sturgis coach Brian Beebe said. "When we're relying on one thing, we're not as good."

The Lady Bulldogs rarely face the height the Trojans threw at them on Tuesday.

"We don't face a lot of teams that have two six-footers, that made a difference in the game," Centreville coach Corey Smith said. "I think some of our players may have been a little timid because of it."

Sturgis led 14-2 after one quarter behind six points each by Nicolette Nelson on the inside and George from beyond the arc. She added two more triples in the second period.

"Ariana's four threes in the first half were huge," Beebe said. "The thing I like the most was that she didn't force any threes in the second half. She let the game come to her. She had a nice screen-roll drive. She had a great pass to (Marissa) Parker for a layup in the fourth quarter. She did a very good job of playing unselfish and taking what the defense gave her."

Smith felt his team was a little slow defensively.

"Defense, we were not moving our feet, not getting from Point A to Point B," he said. "And when you have a girl going 4-for-5 from 3-point land in the first half that changes the whole scope of the game."

Sturgis (3-9) led 26-7 at halftime.

An offensive putback by Rachel Anderson, who was limited to 13 minutes because of foul trouble, gave the Trojans their largest lead of the game until the final minutes.

"Rachel was great tonight," Beebe said. "It's tough to play through that much foul trouble and to get 10 (points) and seven (rebounds)."

Centreville (4-8) scored the final six points of the quarter to close the gap to 35-20 heading into the final period.

"When the game almost got out of reach they were switching man, switching people and playing defense a little bit better," Smith said of his teams' play in the second half.

Both teams got into the bonus early on their was a parade to the foul line for most of the final eight minutes. The Trojans were slightly better.

"Don't ask me why (we shot poorly)," Smith said. "We're a good free throw shooting team and it was almost like they had something over the basket."

Sturgis was 10-for-21, while Centreville was 11-for-27.

"It was a good team win," Beebe said. "We did the things we had to to win. We can find things we need to continue to work on. Free throw shooting, we have to get better at."

The Trojans have been changing up their defenses more in the last couple games.

"The biggest thing I'm happy about is that we're starting to mix up man and zone," Beebe said. "It's important for us to be able to continue to do that."

Sturgis scored the final five points to push the margin to 25 points.

"Sturgis played a good game, they did what they were supposed to do, coach had them well-prepared," Smith said. "We've just got to go back to the drawing board."

George led the Trojans with 16 points, Nelson added nine, Kayla Nichols tossed in five, Morgan Pueschel and Parker each finished with four and Megan Courtney had two.

"Happy for the kids," Beebe said. "The more we can continue to learn to play with each other, the better we will be. Not everyone is going to have 16 points or five assists. We just need to bring our strengths to the table and play to the best of our ability."

Christen Kahila topped the Bulldogs with nine points, Ashton Lehman and Faith Morell each threw in seven and Charity Yeager and Tenisha Hochstetler each had a free throw.

Sturgis won the board battle, 42-29. Nelson collected nine, George grabbed six and Courtney had five. Lehman grabbed five for Centreville.

Pueschel and George each had three assists for Sturgis.

In the junior varsity game, Sturgis' Alaina Cholometes hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 30-29 victory.

Alaina and sister Annalissa each scored nine points to lead Sturgis and Madeline Mercer added five. Bailee May led Centreville with 14 points and Sam Lewis added six.

Colon 50, BC St. Phil 47

Colon's girl's basketball team picked up a road win over Battle Creek St. Philip on Tuesday, 50-47.

The Lady Magi trailed for most of the game, down 12-8 after one quarter and 22-16 at the half.

St. Phil took a 35-28 lead into the fourth quarter, but Colon erupted for 22 points in the final eight minutes.

Shaunta Adams led the Lady Magi with 22 points and eight rebounds while Skyler Harvey tossed in 12 points. Makayla Craun added 10 points with 19 rebounds while Taya Bower, Anessa Broker and Ashleigh Wolf all had two points.

Three Rivers 51, Vicksburg 37

Three Rivers' girl's basketball team picked up another double-digit win in conference action Tuesday with a 51-37 win over Vicksburg.

The Lady Wildcats held Vicksburg to two points in the first and seven more in the third.

Three Rivers led 12-2 after one and upped their lead to 23-18 at the break.

A 17-7 advantage in the third gave Three Rivers a 40-25 lead heading into the final quarter.

Teagen Reeves led with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Linsey Masnari tossed in 18 points with six assists. Nicki Bennett had six points, Kimmy Sibert added three points while Bre Lester added two.

Prairie Heights 57, Bronson 44

Bronson's girl's basketball team dropped a 57-44 decision to Prairie Heights on Tuesday.

The Lady Vikings led 18-15 after one quarter of action, but scored just 13 points in the middle two quarters. The Lady Panthers held a 19-13 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Bronson was led in scoring by Mallorie Bassage's 17 points. Skyler Sobeski tossed in 14 points while Amberly Bercaw chipped in with nine.